GameObject.Find

Parameters

Description

Finds and returns a GameObject with the specified name.

Only returns active GameObjects. Returns null if no GameObject with name exists. If name contains a / character, it traverses the hierarchy like a path name.

For performance reasons, it is recommended to not use this function every frame. Instead, cache the result in a member variable at startup, or use GameObject.FindWithTag.

If the game is running with multiple scenes then Find will search in all of them.

To find a child GameObject, it is often easier to use Transform.Find.

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

// This returns the GameObject named Hand in one of the Scenes.

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour
{
    public GameObject hand;

    void Example()
    {
        // This returns the GameObject named Hand.
        hand = GameObject.Find("Hand");

        // This returns the GameObject named Hand.
        // Hand must not have a parent in the Hierarchy view.
        hand = GameObject.Find("/Hand");

        // This returns the GameObject named Hand,
        // which is a child of Arm > Monster.
        // Monster must not have a parent in the Hierarchy view.
        hand = GameObject.Find("/Monster/Arm/Hand");

        // This returns the GameObject named Hand,
        // which is a child of Arm > Monster.
        hand = GameObject.Find("Monster/Arm/Hand");
    }
}

GameObject.Find is useful for automatically connecting references to other objects at load time; for example, inside MonoBehaviour.Awake or MonoBehaviour.Start.

A common pattern is to assign a GameObject to a variable inside MonoBehaviour.Start, and use the variable in MonoBehaviour.Update.

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

// Find the GameObject named Hand and rotate it every frame

public class ExampleClass : MonoBehaviour
{
    private GameObject hand;

    void Start()
    {
        hand = GameObject.Find("/Monster/Arm/Hand");
    }

    void Update()
    {
        hand.transform.Rotate(0, 100 * Time.deltaTime, 0);
    }
}

Additional resources: GameObject.FindGameObjectsWithTag